Shoe with insole exposable to view



1953 J. H. SLOAN ET AL SHOE WITH INSOLE EXPOSABLE To' VIEW Filed Sept. 1, 1950 INVENTORS 5 L o A N JERv/s H. MAR/AN G/LKERSON ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 13, 1953 UN [TED- STAT PATENT 0F F ICE SHOE WITH INSOLE EXPOSABLE TO VIEW Jervis nj swan; St. Louis, mantras 1i. Gilkerson; ohesteifiel'd," M'o: Application September 1, 1950',"Seria'l No; 18.2;784

(olI 36 8M) 4 Claims;

This'invention relates to uppers for all types of shoes, and more particularly to the form of the upper and its tongue portion and theirre lation one to the other, and-this especiallywhen considering the purpose in View, namely, of malging it possible to inspect, when desired, the entire shoe insole from heel to toe, thus providing for and facilitating the fitting of shoes to the-wearers foot in the securing of an accurate and proper fit;

It is of course essential to provide means whereby an accurate fitting of shoes may facilitated and without resorting to the Y-ray method, which last mentioned method has been adjudged by many doctors tobe injurious to the foot'in many cases of continuous use, and the use ofwhich incert'ain places for the purposes in question-having been prohibited;

Particularly is it essential in the case of shoes for children, and duringthe growth of thechi'lds foot, to first provide for an accurate and "proper fitting, and especially following such fitting to permit ready and adequateinspection or the childs foot and its relation to the shoeduring such period of growth in determining when the shoe should be replaced to provide'a proper fit.

Such being the general purposeof the inven tion, the' main object thereof is toprovide a shoe having a one-piece upper and a tongue and toe cap-portion therefor adapted tobe fitted to the wearers foot in the; usual manner, and withthe shoe so formed, when considering the shape of the upper and its attached tongue and to e cap portion, that the tongue and toe-cap-por'tion may be displacedfrom its normal position as assumed when the shoe is-on the-wearers foot and laced for wear, to a position with respect to the upper where the -entire insole of the shoe up-to-and' including the extreme toe portion oi said insole may be seen and inspected; thereby further permitting the position of the wearers foot with respect to the insoleto be observed and"with the' io'o't in place in theshoe; v m

A further and most importantbbjecto fjtheinverition is the provision of avisible gauge 'rnarking upon theupperfacenfthe-insole at the toe portion'thereof, said marking to indicate the size of the shoe and the proper position to be assumed by the toe por'u'on'or th'efoot with respect to the insole when the shoe'is applied to the foot, and further serving'as an indication to beiwatc hed from time to time duringlth'egr'owth of achilds foot to shovwthe'dnother'when 'theshoe should be The above and other features of the present invention will be further understood frorn the fol lowing description when readin connection with the accompanying drawing illustratinga practical embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of a shoe ernloody ing the features of the present invention.-

Figure 2 is a top plan view of theshoe as it would appear in'laced condition; and

Figure 3 is a top plan view of theshoe showing the tongue extended outwardly to expose the entire shoe insole and its visible gauge marking, and further showing-the wearers foot th ereinindicated" by broken lines. H

Referring to" the drawings, Ii] designate saonepiece upper which is seamless except for the seam at the back or counter portion of the sho e (which seam is'covered by a counter" pocket or lining thus providing a shoe where no seams are e1 posed to' the ilvearersfoot Attached to the upper, preferably as an 'integral part thereof: is a tongue or strip ll provided for closing the gap i-n'the' front of a laced or similartype ofshoe where it serves as a covering for the instep and toe portion of the wearers foot,; and it'is tobe particularly noted that the tongue portion" or strip II is connected to and extends fionith topedge of the extreme substantially vertical portion l2 of the toe-portion of said'shoe upper and" at a point directly above the extreme fo'rward' toe-portion of the shoe insole, thus permitting'the tongue or strip H to be movedin an outward direction and away from' its normal inst'epand toe covering position with respect to the upperand to hem positioned as to permit inspection' ofthe entire insole of the shoe up 'to and'including the extreme toe-portionthereof, and furthermore allowing the wearers foot to be observed, includin thetoe-port ion thereof, when the shoe is upon the foot. Thus it is possibleto watch thedevelopinent of the foot fromtiin'e to time and its particular relation with respect to-the shoey o r in other words, one can actually look insidethe shoe upto and including the e'xtreme toe-portion of the insole. V

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed by the. drawing-,the tongue portion-of the shoe H is integrally formed with the'uppei, aridjthjere is a relatively narrow canne'cung neck portihn I 3 between'the upper proper andsaidtoh'giie, which connecting neck: portion l3 "eit en'd's' from the top"part of'the; eigtrem'e vertical portioifjz of the toe portion of the shoe upper, and as tate'd .herein, extends from a poiht directly abovejthe extreme toe-portion ofthe shoe" insole," and for the purposes as indicated herein. Furthermore, said tongue from the connecting neck portion [3 to its free end is of increased width and this, as is obvious, to provide for the covering of the instep and toe portion of the wearers foot and furthermore to permit the side edges of said tongue to be overlapped by the upper when the shoe is laced or otherwise secured to the wearers foot and in the usual manner.

Referring now to the shoe insole, which, as noted can be observed, when necessary, throughout its entire extent, provision has been made for applying to the top face of the insole near the extreme toe-portion thereof, a visible gauge line or marking 14 to indicate a point beyond which the toe-portion of a foot should not be placed with respect to the insole, if proper fit is to be had. It being possible to observe the entire insole from heel to toe, as above indicated, the marking, which may be called a growth line, is of course clearly visible to serve as a gauge to be used for determining when the shoe is too short for any particular wearers foot, and furthermore, may be consulted from time to time during normal growth of the foot and act as a warning as to time for replacement with a shoe of proper size.

This growth line or marking may be in the form of a line or a spot, or in fact any visible indication for permanently marking the size of v the shoe.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a shoe constructed in accordance with the present invention renders it possible to properly fit the shoe to a wearers foot without the use of the X-ray method, and furthermore greatly facilitates such fitting when realizing that it is possible to observe the entire toe-portion of the wearers foot when in place within the shoe and also the position assumed by the foot with respect to the shoe insole and its visible gauge marking which indicates the size of the shoe.

Modifications of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims, and therefore the exact form shown is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a shoe, an insole for said shoe, an upper for said shoe, said upper having a vamp with integral sides and toe-end portions, said vamp extending uninterruptedly around the toe-end of the upper and said toe-end being substantially vertical at the extreme forward end of said shoe, and a tongue and toe-cap portion for said upper connected to and extending hingedly from the top edge of said substantially vertical toe-end portion, said tongue and toe-cap portion being necked-in at its point of connection with the toe-end portion, whereby the tongue and toe-cap portion may be removed from its normal instep and toe covering position to thereby assume a position permitting visual inspection of the entire top face of the insole up to and including the extreme toe-portion thereof.

2. In a shoe made from opaque material, an insole for said shoe, an upper for said shoe, said upper having a vamp with integral sides and toe-end portions, said vamp extending uninterruptedly around the toe-end of the upper and said toe-end being substantially vertical at the extreme forward end of said shoe, a gauge marking upon the upper face of the insole and located at the forward toe portion of said insole,

and a tongue and toe-cap portion for said upper integrally connected to and extending hingedly from the top edge of said substantially vertical toe-end portion, said tongue and toe cap portion being necked-in at its point of connection with the toe-end portion, whereby the tongue and toecap portion may be removed from its instep and toe covering position and assume a position to thereby permit visual inspection of said gauge marking and its relation to the wearers foot within the shoe.

3. In a shoe, an insole for said shoe, an upper for said shoe, said upper having a vamp with integral sides and toe-end portions, said vamp extending uninterruptedly around the toe-end of the upper and said toe-end being substantially vertical at the extreme forward end of said shoe, a tongue and toe-cap portion for said upper, and a relatively narrow necked-in portion at the top edge of said substantially vertical toe-end portion for connecting said tongue and toe-cap portion to said upper at the extreme forward end of said shoe, said narrow necked-in portion being centrally located at the top edge of said substantially vertical toe-end portion and serving as a hinge for the tongue and toe-cap portion, whereby the tongue and toe-cap portion may be removed from its instep and toe-covering position and assume a position to thereby permit inspection of the entire top face of the insole up to and including the extreme toe-portion thereof directly adjacent the inner wall of the substantially vertical toe-end portion.

4. In a shoe, an insole for said shoe, an upper for said shoe, said upper having a vamp with integral sides and toe-end portions and with the vamp sides includin lacing flap portions, said vamp extending uninterruptedly around the toeend of the upper and said toe-end being substantially vertical at the extreme forward end of said shoe, and a tongue and toe-cap portion for said upper connected to and extending hingedly from the top edge of said substantially vertical toe end portion and when in its normal instep and toe covering position adapted to be overlapped by the lacing flap portions of the vamp, said tongue and toe-cap portion being necked-in at its point of connection with the toe-end portion, whereby the tongue and toe-cap portion may be removed from its normal instep and toe covering position to thereby assume a position permitting visual inspection of the entire top face of the insole up to and including the extreme toe-portion thereof.

JERVIS H. SLOAN. MARIAN H. GILKERSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,821,051 Brown Sept. 1, 1931 2,220,534 McLean Nov. 5, 1940 2,340,578 Cairns Feb. 1, 1944 2,464,571 Gardner Mar. 15, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Italy Mar. 16, 1880 2d series, vol. 11, of 1880 235,553 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1945 672,826 Germany Mar. 10, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES A B C der Schuh Fabrikation, November 1939, p. 1390. 

